Chapter 197: Afternoon Nap
Yu Fan’s bedroom really was quite messy. There were paints and brushes piled up on the computer desk, a stack of paper and a drawing board in the corner, and books about drawing techniques stuffed under the desk.
The wooden floor had lots of paint stains, making it look a bit like an art classroom at school.
But the room didn’t smell bad, and even though things were messy, they were kind of organized. It didn’t make people feel uncomfortable at first glance.
Li Mu looked around the room, then casually sat down at the foot of the bed. She picked up one of her portraits and looked up at Yu Fan.
“It’s actually pretty good.”
“Y-Yeah,” Yu Fan said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
But she noticed he still looked really nervous, which made her suspicious again, even more than before.
At first, she thought Yu Fan’s big secret was just the fact that the room was full of drawings of her. Even super fans rarely cover their whole room with photos or posters of their favorite stars.
Yet Yu Fan had done exactly that. Looking around, almost every drawing in sight was of her. There were only a few of other things.
Honestly, this kind of behavior was a little creepy. But luckily, she didn’t really mind.
“What else are you hiding?” she asked with a serious face. “Why are you so nervous?”
“Nothing. I just don’t usually let people in my room, so I’m nervous,” Yu Fan replied smoothly.
“Then I’m going to sleep now.” Li Mu yawned, pretending not to care as she lowered her head.
Back at school, she usually returned to her dorm at 12:30 after lunch, took care of a few personal things, then took a short nap for about an hour.
This habit came from her roommates. Since everyone else in the room was napping, she didn’t want to make noise and ended up sleeping too. Over time, it became part of her routine.
Today was the same. Not long after eating, her eyes started feeling heavy.
“Do you have another blanket?”
Li Mu looked at the one on the bed with a bit of dislike.
“I’ll go get one!”
Yu Fan ran out to the living room excitedly. Since Li Mu had said earlier that she might come over, he had already prepared a fresh blanket and a mat.
“Seriously, what’s he hiding that he’s so nervous about...” She muttered to herself while glancing around the corners of the room, but didn’t find anything suspicious.
She thought about opening the closet or checking under the bed—but doing that felt a little creepy too.
Soon, Yu Fan came back holding a blanket. Winter in this city wasn’t very cold. Usually the temperature stayed between 10 and 20°C, only dropping to single digits when a cold front arrived.
So, the blanket he brought was light and thin.
“You can just sleep with your clothes on. If the bedding gets dirty, I’ll just toss the cover in the washing machine.”
“Okay.”
Li Mu had no plans to change clothes to sleep anyway.
Yu Fan gathered up his own blanket and hugged it to his chest, then looked at her with a pleading face.
“Just… don’t mess with my stuff, okay?”
“I’m not that kind of person,” she replied. She was already leaning against the headboard, legs stretched out, yawning nonstop.
But even so, she noticed Yu Fan kept glancing toward the closet.
There was definitely something fishy about it.
Forget it. Better not push it.
She didn’t want to make things awkward. Everyone has some secrets or embarrassing things they want to hide.
Thinking that to herself, she lay down on Yu Fan’s pillow.
“I’m going to sleep. Tell Xiao Jing not to bother me.”
“Got it.”
Yu Fan quietly left the room, gently closing the door behind him without making a sound.
“I guess I managed to get away with it, right?”
Yu Fan let out a big sigh of relief. He was still worried that Li Mu might start going through his things, but he felt like she wasn’t really the type to do that.
“Get away with what?”
The sudden voice made him jump. He turned around and saw Xiao Jing tilting her head at a 90-degree angle, looking at him with a mix of creepy and cute.
A normal person holding their head at that angle for too long would probably end up with neck pain.
“You scared me! Why do you walk around without making a sound?” Yu Fan reached out and straightened Xiao Jing’s head. “If your head’s tilted, fix it yourself next time.”
“Are you hiding something from my sister?”
“No way!”
Yu Fan felt a bit guilty and quickly walked toward the living room, afraid that Li Mu might overhear them from the bedroom.
“You’re already keeping secrets from her, and you’ve only just started dating. If this goes on, are you going to cheat on her later?”
“Don’t say stuff like that! That’s totally unrelated! And I'm a loyal person!”
When they got to the living room, Yu Fan turned back to Xiao Jing and asked, “Do you have a phone?”
“Of course! My sister just bought me one last week! It’s the newest model!”
“Add me as a friend. I’ll send you a red envelope.”
“Brother-in-law, is this a bribe?” Xiao Jing tried to copy Li Mu’s serious face. “I’m fair and honest. I never take dirty money!”
“It’s just 100 yuan. Use it to get yourself something nice to eat.”
“Thank you, brother-in-law! You’re the best~”
Just a second ago she was accusing him of cheating, and now it’s “brother-in-law is the best.”
Yu Fan sighed and patted her head, then walked over to his computer and asked, “After the spring exams, I’m thinking of taking you and your sister on a trip. Where do you think we should go?”
“A trip?”
Xiao Jing came over happily after accepting the red envelope on her phone.
“My sister is kind of lazy. Usually, she just ‘travels’ between the bedroom and living room.”
“If she’s lazy... maybe we should pick somewhere nearby. We could rent a car. Too bad I don’t have a driver’s license yet. Otherwise, a road trip in a used van around the province would’ve been fun.”
Yu Fan started thinking seriously about how to spend the long vacation after the spring exams.
At first, he wanted to use the break to do something big with Chen Yi, but Li Mu didn’t want him dealing with any ghost-related stuff anymore.
While looking up local tourist spots online, he asked Xiao Jing. “Does Li Mu like playing in the water?”
“Huh? I don’t know.”
“You’re her sister, though.”
Xiao Jing thought hard. “I rarely see her use the bathtub at home, so I guess she doesn’t like water?”
Okay, so the water parks and lakeside spots could be taken off the list.
“Why don’t you just ask her directly?”
“I want to keep it a surprise, that’s all.”
The main reason was that if something unexpected happened and they couldn’t go, telling Li Mu too early would feel like breaking a promise.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Yu Fan glanced at the screen and muttered in confusion, “Why is my dad calling me at this time?”
He picked up the call, and his dad’s loud voice came through excitedly:
“Yu Fan! Are you in a relationship?!”
“......”
“And you even brought her home while I wasn’t there? You’ve got guts! When are you going to let me meet her?”
Clearly, the girl next door from lunch must have spilled the beans.
Yu Fan scratched his head. “I’ll ask her opinion first.”
Knowing Li Mu’s personality, she probably wouldn’t be into meeting parents just yet.
Even if they might think about marriage someday, the truth was they’d only been together for a few hours. This wasn’t a blind date or something, meeting parents this early was way too fast.
“Then at least send me a photo!” His younger brother’s voice came through the phone next. “Brother, you haven’t dated anyone for years. You must’ve found a super pretty girlfriend, right?”
“I’ll ask her when she wakes up.”
Li Mu didn’t like people sharing her photos without asking her first.